A Democratic congressman trying to impeach president Trump has been accused of abandoning over 100 dogs to starve after his company cruelly tested pharmaceuticals on them.
Shri Thanedar was behind a testing lab that shut down in 2010. The lab – AniClin Preclinical Services – was closed after its parent company, Azopharma, owned by the Democrat, went bankrupt.
Months after the New Jersey lab closed, local animal rights activists alerted authorities to 118 beagles that had been left behind locked in the facility, as reported by Huff Post.
At the time, the lab’s ex-workers told USA Today they had been jumping fences at the facility to provide food and water for the dogs.
Insiders claimed that even before the dogs were abandoned to starve, they had lived horrific lives in captivity and were subject to toxicology tests.
‘We believe that they have never been outside, ever,’ an unnamed woman told the Times Herald-Record in 2010.
‘I don’t think they’ve actually had their paws on the grass. When I walked in here it looked like they were walking on eggshells. They were kind of afraid to walk on the grass.’
Eventually two animal rescue groups were able to rescue the abused dogs and match them with families looking to adopt a pet.
A California-based organization, Defense of Animals, then went back to the site and rescued 55 long-tailed macaque monkeys.
The non-profit had to negotiate with the company liquidating the lab’s assets so they would release the monkeys rather than sell them to another testing facility.
Rep Thanedar told DailyMail.com on Thursday: ‘These attacks are completely false and have been repeatedly litigated. When the lab was closed all of the animals were given to happy homes. In my long business career, I am proud to report that no animal was hurt or died under my watch.
‘In Congress, I have made animal rights a top priority. I have a 100% record in protecting animal rights as a lawmaker, and I was honored to be awarded the Humane Society’s highest legislative award not just once, but two years in a row. I look forward to building on my strong animal rights records this Congress and for years to come.’
The Democrat previously told the HuffPost that the lab had been under the control of Bank of America after it was seized in the bankruptcy case.
‘I have no knowledge how well the bank took care of the animals,’ Rep Thanedar said.
Hellbound and Down 